"This paper studies the factors banks perceive as drivers and obstacles to financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the role of competition and the institutional framework. Using a survey of banks in Argentina and Chile, the paper shows that, despite alleged differences in the...

The convertibility law, and economic liberalization in the early 1990s in Argentina, brought about dramatic changes in economic performance. To adjust to increasing globalization, and a series of external shocks, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) were confronted with the task of...